


Just Tony being Tony

by Indigomountain



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes-centric, First Dates, First Kiss, Flash Fic, Fluff, M/M, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Protective Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-07-14 04:28:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16032998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indigomountain/pseuds/Indigomountain
Summary: James Barnes doesn't like how everyone talks about Tony, he especially doesn't like when they talk about him like that to his face.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a prompt on Tumblr from Odin-stark that went “That’s just ___ being ___. Ignore them; if they see they’re getting attention, they will literally never stop.” and I don't know what happened.

James could feel a tiny smile on his face as he watched Tony Stark flail his hands in emphasis as he spoke. He didn’t understand most of what the man was saying but just watching him go was enough for now, maybe when he wound down a little bit James would ask him to explain slower.

He felt an elbow nudge at his ribs so he looked over at Rogers who was eating probably about a dozen scrambled eggs and an entire loaf of toasted bread next to him. It would be gross if he didn’t know exactly what that felt like; he hated how much his metabolism required him to eat.

He grunted to acknowledge Rogers who would probably keep elbowing him until he responded. The man didn’t understand that sometimes James just didn’t want to talk to him; he was always pushing at the places James would rather leave alone. He knew that they were childhood friends but he didn’t have most of those memories and so what Rogers found to be acceptable behavior around him was just too friendly for his own comfort; like the fact that the man insisted on calling him ‘Bucky’ no matter how many times he tried to explain how much he hated that nickname, it was childish and at the age ninety eight he had definitely out grown it.

“That’s just Tony being Tony. Ignore him; if he sees he’s getting attention, he will literally never stop,” the fact that it was Steve saying that was almost like a slap to the face. James was reasonably sure that the little Stevie he remembered would never say something like that, especially when the person he was talking about was still in the room. He watched Stark's face fall from a happy and bubbly smile as he tried to describe the science behind the new body armor he had just finished for the team, it was like all emotion was suddenly gone; his own stomach about hit the floor as he watched what those words did to the man.

James didn’t really know what had happened between the Avengers but it was like lines had been drawn in the sand, us and them. Banner was twitchy with everyone but his ‘science bro’, Steve and Natasha were cold with Stark, and Clint and Wanda were downright hostile towards the man. He hadn’t had any particular opinion about the man as a person, he was grateful to him for the pardon he fought for even when he didn’t have any reason to but Stark was always so busy that he almost never saw him; James was sure he didn’t like any of the attitudes going around this place though.

This was the first time in probably a week that Stark had even stepped out of that la- workshop (it doesn’t sound so scary if it’s a workshop). The genius had grease all over his hands and a stain on each of his thighs where he kept trying to rub it off, but heavy duty mechanical grease was going to need heavy duty soap so really he was just making a mess. Stark also had hair sticking in every direction and just a generally disheveled look about him, it was almost cute when he had all of the manic joy of a whirling dervish but now he just looked sad and tired.

For some reason that made a rage boil low in James’s belly; he wasn’t great at emotions yet, sometimes he still felt more machine than man. He did know that he wanted to sock Steve Rogers in the jaw for being such an ass; he also knew that that wouldn’t make anything better.

He could punch Steve later, under the pretence of ‘training’. Right now he was going to try and fix that kicked puppy look on Stark's face because he hated that look more than anything else he had seen since he came here.

“Did you think Rogers, that maybe I was interested in hearing how the body armor worked?” He growled, but really most of the time his voice could be described as a growl, this time though he had a snarl on his lips. He was feeling very protective of Tony Stark right now and hated the way everyone talked about the man. He only just realized they spoke the same way right to his face, James wished he had been paying more attention to the situation but he had only just gotten his head screwed on right, “I mean, it’s not like it’s the only thing between me and a bullet when I’m out in the field,” And that was even true, he had been cleared for field duty last week after almost six months under a microscope, though it hadn’t been even close to the real reason he was angry, “And besides that, could you have been any more rude?”

Tony looked bewildered, blinking back and forth at them with those big brown doe eyes. He looked so confused by the idea that someone might actually want to hear about the things he made, James was going to change that. He was realizing all kinds of things today, like how much of a dick Rogers had become and how adorable Tony Stark was, he wanted to swaddle Tony up and keep him safe and happy.

“Bucky! I’m not being rude-”

He didn’t even bother to listen to what ever garbage might come out of Rogers’ mouth next, instead he slid off his stool at the kitchen island, “Come on doll, how’s about I buy you breakfast and in return you tell me all about it?”

“Doll?” the man blushed but didn’t argue so James figured that meant yes. He slung an arm around the smaller man’s shoulders, he noted that Tony was the perfect height to tuck under his arm, and led him out of the kitchen.

Steve was still trying to say something to him shouting louder the further away they went. He would probably try and corner James later with sad eyes and a ‘What was that all about Buck?’ James hoped he waited until they were sparing, it would be a great opportunity to get all of this bottled up anger out in the open. He was going to use his metal arm; he hoped he broke Rogers’ jaw, then he would have at least a week where no one called him Bucky because Rogers wouldn’t be able to say a word.

“Yup. I hear you give people nicknames all the time so I don’t want to hear you can't take what you dish out,” He teased, even giving the man one of his still rare smiles. James thought making Tony blush was his new favorite thing in the world,

“I’m thinking about this little place I know down the street. They have the best crepes,” So what if he just finished his breakfast, he was sure he’d have room for more by the time they got there.

“That sounds perfect,” Tony said, a shy little smile on his face. James wanted him to smile like that all the time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just fluff. Tony and James have crepes.

Tony shot another look up through his eye lashes. The Winter Soldier was sitting next to him in a booth eating a plate of crepes. This whole morning had been surreal, he’d finally come out of his lab and was stopping in the kitchen for a cup of tea, not even coffee he hoped Bruce was happy, before he went to bed. Rogers was there already so he figured he’d let the man know that the newest armor was done and give him some specs on it. He had expected the comment about his ego but he had been less prepared for James Barnes to come to his defense and then the man asked him out to breakfast.

Tony was a little lost to say the least.

“So doll, you were gonna tell me about the new armor you’ve been working on? Hate to say it but if you could dumb it down a little more for me I’d be real grateful,” and there it was again, the man was smiling at him! What was happening here?

“Uh yeah, sure-” there was an awkward pause as he tried to organize some sort of thought process while James Buchannan Barnes smiled at him like _that,_ “-So I started with creating a synthetic fiber that mimics spider silk and then that was woven together with Graphene to create a thread. Then I processed that into an eight hundred twenty thread count fabric which was then cut to shape and coated with a polymer that will make for easy cleaning, keep the fabric from unraveling, and act as an insulator to keep the Graphene from picking up a charge,” This was probably the longest anyone outside of the science community had listened to him talk uninterrupted in years.

“For the chest, a layer of inch wide silicon carbide ceramic circles were laid down over lapping into the polymer and another polymer coated fabric was laid on top. For the arms and legs the disks weren’t full coverage but they’re still there single layer except for around the joints to provide a full range of motion. It shouldn’t impede any of the acrobatics you get up to.”

“That sound like an armor design I’ve heard of before. It was never put into production because there were issues with heat resistance,” James asked and amazingly enough he wasn’t accusing him of stealing the idea like Rogers or his ilk would have, it was just a question.

“Right!” He punctuated that with a wave of his fork, “The dragon skin armor, it was a brilliant idea; it just needed a little tweaking. That’s one of the other reasons for the polymer coating; it’s heat resistant so there won't be any shifting of the disks after the polymer cures. And the places where there aren’t any disks still have two layers of bullet proof fabric that blows Kevlar right out of the water.”

“Don’t forget to eat Tony, you food’ll get cold,” James pushed his plate a little closer, “You’ve got a captive audience, I'm here as long as you want. I've got nowhere else I wanna be,” James promised. Tony's stomach gave a little swoop for no reason at all and there was definitely no blush on his face because he did not blush. He did dig into his crepes though; they were as good as the other man had promised, buttery and filled with blueberry jam.

“So why did you ask me out to breakfast?” Tony asked because he couldn’t leave well enough alone.

“What, can't just want to spend time with you?” James shot back.

“Most people don’t, no,” Sad but true.

“Well they’re idiots because you’re delightful,” The man looked like he was ready to fight Tony on that point. All of the sudden his expression changed from tenacious to bashful and he was biting his lip, “If breakfast goes well do you think you might want to go to dinner some time?”

“Are you asking me on a date?” That’s what it sounded like but also seemed improbable.

“Only if you’re planning on saying yes,” James gave him a nervous smile.

“Well then I guess you’ve got yourself a date,” Tony found himself saying. He hadn’t even thought about Barnes that way before today, but then this was very close to their first interaction outside of a courtroom setting, certainly their first time alone. And he couldn’t deny that James Barnes was one fine looking man, especially when he was smiling instead of giving the room a murder glare.

And his smiles were breathtaking; the one he was giving Tony right now made his stomach do flips, “Tonight?”

“Sure. If you want,” James just smiled wider and that was definitely the most he had smiled since he turned himself in more than half a year ago. Tony scooted a little closer so he could press their legs together. They sat in comfortable silence while they finished eating.

When Tony pulled out his wallet to pay James caught his wrist, “Absolutely not. I asked you out, I get to pay. When you take me out you can be the one who pays,” Tony had no clue what to say to that, he wasn’t sure anyone had ever offered to pay while in his presence before. Rhodey or Pepper might have on occasion paid for their own but never had they insisted or even offered to pay for Tony's.

On the walk back to the tower James slipped his hand into Tony's and gave it a squeeze. This was nice. If felt like he didn’t have to try to be someone else; Tony Stark wasn’t needed here, just Tony was perfectly adequate. He almost wanted to ask when the other shoe was going to drop but that wasn’t fair to James, Tony wasn’t sure there even was another shoe this time.

James dropped him off at the door to his lab with a kiss the knuckles of the hand he was still holding, who does that kind of thing? “I’ll see you at six?”

“See you then.” Tony nodded. Watching James head back to the elevator was strange, he felt like a teenage girl that had just been walked home from her first date with a boy; he’d even gotten a kiss on the hand. His stomach was all aflutter. Once the elevator was moving he addressed Jarvis, “I don’t care what I’m doing, if I'm revolutionizing the world, make sure I'm out of the lab and getting ready at five. Not a minute later Jarvis, you have full authority to use any means necessary.”

“You may come to regret that Sir but if you insist. You shall be given two warnings before I inform Dum-E where the newest fire extinguisher is hidden,” that would definitely break him out of any engineering fugue state he could get going in the next nine hours.

He looked around at the lack of any open projects and realized the whole reason he’d gone to the kitchen was to calm down before going to bed. Well now was as good a time as any to take a power nap. With that in mind he called the elevator back down.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky decides breaking Rogers' jaw would be to much of a hassle and then immediately regrets not doing it.

Today had started off a little rocky with Rogers pestering him while he tried to eat but it was looking pretty great right now. He’d had a breakfast with someone who wasn’t Steve Rogers and he had a date with a gorgeous man tonight. It felt like this was the most he’d smiled in seventy years. It might even be true.

James decided to run off a little of his extra energy, he felt like doing cartwheels and back flips but for now the treadmill would do. He pressed the button for the gym and leaned against the far wall to wait. The date tonight had to be memorable, he was thinking of flowers and then dinner at this little open air Middle Eastern place he knew. He’d heard that Shawarma was a favorite of Tony's, of course that had been Barton questioning why anyone would like it but that was beside the point.

As soon as the elevator opened to the gym he regretted that decision, he could have gone outside and enjoyed the sun on his shoulders while he ran but no, he didn’t want to deal with random people and that was his mistake. Rogers was making a mess of the punching bags again, would probably leave the mess of sand right there on the floor too because the cleaning robots would take care of it. James was sure that much sand wasn’t good for the bots but when he’d said something about it he was told that Tony would just make more. There were so many little things that these people did that made him mad and he was close to losing it.

He tried to close the door before he was noticed but it was too late.

“Bucky! I was hoping you’d come here,” Great Rogers’ had been stewing and ready to pounce for an hour now, there was no way James wasn’t going to go off on him again because Rogers was fucking annoying when he got like this. Sometimes he thought he could almost tolerate the man and then he would open his mouth and James would realize he was wrong because almost everything Rogers said rubbed him the wrong way, “What was with you this morning?”

“You were being rude, fanatically so. I was done with it,” he didn’t think it would work but James was going to get on the treadmill and try ignoring Rogers and his bullshit.

“How was I being rude?” He asked like he really couldn’t think of one offensive thing he could have said. James wondered if he was really that obtuse or just pretending to be.

“Would you say something like that about anyone but Tony right to their face? No, because it’s rude. He wasn’t bothering me, you were obviously ignoring him, and he was happy but you just had to try and ruin that. Well bad news, it didn’t work. I took him out for breakfast and left him with a smile on his face,” James pushed the speed up a little more.

“Buck-” Rogers made a grab at his shoulder, ignoring his aggressive posture and murder face.

“Wanna spar? I think we should spar,” he wasn’t going to hold back, Rogers had no idea what he was about to go up against because he’d been royally pissing off the Winter Soldier for months and James was done with it.

“Uh… sure,” He answered like an idiot who was going to get his ass kicked six ways to Sunday.

The shark toothed grin on James’ face should have been a -not the first because there had been so many- clue as to how much trouble Rogers was in at the moment. Instead of walking to the mats and circling like Rogers was expecting James shot off his treadmill and barreled right into the man’s chest. His arms went wild as he pin wheeled trying to keep his balance. A metal fist came down hard against Rogers’ ribs, they held but just barely, James didn’t want to lose his play toy after only one hit after all.

He grabbed the man’s shoulders and used them to propel himself up and over Rogers’ head, kicking off from his back and rolling to a stop in a crouch a few feet away. Rogers was panting and wheezing; it was almost sad. James watched him shake himself and get his head in the fight, not that it would help him much against the Winter Soldier but it would at least give James a bit of a challenge.

He brought the Rogers to the mat four times before he started getting bored and wonder if he would actually be able to get away with breaking Rogers jaw. The silence would be glorious but would it be worth the aggravation? Probably not… it was still a nice fantasy though.

He slammed Rogers into the ground one more time, watching with satisfaction as the back of his head hit with particular force, “I think that’s enough for one day, thanks for the entertainment Rogers.” James got to his feet, he had to take a shower and get ready not to mention finding the perfect flowers.

“Buck wait up. I thought we were going to train with Nat and Clint this afternoon?”

“No, that’s what you decided we were doing. I’ve got a hot date tonight and I've gotta go get ready,” he was hoping to leave the man behind but Rogers came jogging up to him as he passed through to the showers.

“A date? With who?” Rogers asked, sticking his nose where he wasn’t welcome.

“With Tony, not that it’s any of your business,” Maybe they would go for a walk in the park near the restaurant after dinner, that sounded nice.

“Of course it’s my business; you’re my best friend Buck. But are you sure that’s the best choice of date? I’m sure if you asked Natasha could find someone for you,” he actually hat to turn and look at Rogers, was the man serious?

“So many things to unpack here… first of all, it is _not_ any of your business who I do or do not see, it still wouldn’t be even if you were my best friend but you’re not. I don’t really like you at all Rogers. You never listen to me and that is the most irritating thing in the world,” He was regretting not breaking Rogers’ jaw, he should have, “Second, Tony was a wonderful date this morning I don’t see why he would be any different tonight. And third, if I wanted someone else to find a partner for me I would ask but I haven’t because I am perfectly capable of doing so on my own, hence the date I have tonight.”

“Bucky of course I'm your best friend-” Rogers started in again because he never knew when to quit.

“There! That is what I'm talking about. How many times have I asked you not to call me that? I say things and you just ignore them. You live in your own little world where I'm your best pal from Brooklyn but news flash - _I barely remember you!_ I’m not comfortable with you putting your hands on my person and I hate when you call me Bucky and I don’t remember any of things you’re trying to reminisce with me about. The inside jokes you keep using mean nothing to me and I do not need or want to spend every waking hour with you Rogers!” James marched for the elevator; he could take a shower in his own room. Thankfully Rogers didn’t try to follow this time. He hoped he could shake off the funk Rogers always put him in before he saw Tony again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets ready for his date. He also gets threatened, not that it feels very threatening.

Tony wished he knew where James was taking him so he could figure out what to wear. Should he go for casual? Or maybe something more formal? A suit was probably too much right? There were clothes strewn all over the floor and Tony was no closer to an answer. He could just open the door naked, maybe James would like that. He wasn’t even sure why he was stressing so hard, at least that’s what he kept telling himself.

“Sir, perhaps a pair of jeans and a sports jacket? A happy medium,” Jarvis suggested.

“You're a genius J!” He exclaimed; ignoring all the clothes already spread across his bed and floor to dive back into his closet.

“I am merely as you built me Sir,” the AI stated like he wasn’t absolutely amazing.

Tony picked out his tightest dark wash jeans and a jacket that was tailored to fit just right to go over a baby blue button down that did things for his chest. He hoped James appreciated all the effort he just went through.

Just as he was picking out a pair of shoes the door slammed open hitting the wall and bouncing back a bit.

“Stark! This is a step too far!” Oh great it was Clint. Tony really didn’t have time for whatever bullshit Barton had in his head today, he had a date.

“I am in fact known for going a step too far,” Tony pushed the boundaries of science at every chance and people hated change so that was a fairly common headline.

“How could you turn Bucky against Steve like that?” Clint accused, he wasn’t right in Tony's face but the hand he was waving around was more than annoying. The man was getting a little loud and a lot angry.

“I did what now?” Barton had always been irrational but it was shining through just now. Tony hadn’t said one word to James about Steve Rogers, let alone turn James against him.

“He broke Steve's jaw, punched the dude right in the mouth with his metal hand. So I hope you’re satisfied with that because if you keep trying to influence Bucky you’ll regret it. I promise you that,” Always with the threats these days. Barton really needed some new material if he was going to go around trying to intimidate people because ‘you’ll regret it’ was so unoriginal.

“I’ll keep that in mind Barton; now get the fuck out of my room.”

“I'm watching you,” Barton was trying for menacing but really Tony fought people much more frightening than one unenhanced human throwing a hissy fit.

“Yeah well Jarvis is watching _you_. J never let him in my rooms again,” Tony was so done with Barton and his shit. He should lock Rogers out too, he was sure to be the next to drop by waving around threats and he was far more dangerous than Barton.

“Yes Sir. It will be my pleasure,” Jarvis said in that ominous way of his.

The man sneered at him one last time before slamming the door behind him. Tony took a minute to just breathe and try to forget what a belligerent asshole Barton was. He was getting real sick of this shit, maybe he would make an Avengers apartment complex and stick them all in it.  

“Mr. Barnes looks to be on his way up Sir.”

“Great, that’ll cheer me up at least,” And even just thinking about James was enough to make him smile. He had a good feeling about this date, not something he’s been able to say about most dates he’s been on. Most people he dated were after something, money or fame or his tech, but James was already living in his tower and he hardly needed any more fame. As for tech well, Tony really wouldn’t be opposed to making tech for him; a new arm sounded like a fun side project.

There was a knock at the door Tony was glad he was almost ready when Barton interrupted. “Just a second!” He called out while he slipped his shoes on.

The first thing he saw when he opened the door was the biggest bouquet he’d seen in a long time, they were blue irises and red roses. It wasn’t often people brought him flowers and even less often he didn’t pay for them first. They were even his colors, it was very sweet.

“Hi,” He couldn’t quite think of anything else to say.

“Hi yourself. These are for you.” James pushed the flowers into his hand. He pressed his whole face into them to get the most potent breath of their fragrance. Tony hoped his face wasn’t covered in pollen after that.

“Thank you. Let me just put these in water,” Tony didn’t think he had a vase but a tall glass would do just as well, “So I just got threatened by Barton because apparently you punched Steve Rogers in the jaw. You can't just go around punching people Barnes.”

“Apparently I can. Colonel Rhodes even smiled at me today so I don't feel very reprimanded,” Considering how hostile Rhodey has been towards Rogers and his ilk that was indeed a complement, “I’ll have a little chat with Barton, make sure he doesn’t do that again,” Tony didn’t think he meant ‘have a chat’ at all, and while that was a nice gesture it would only cause more trouble.

“Look I may not want them here, I certainly don't like them being here, but we do have to at least live with each other. That means you can't go around punching people,” He would enjoy thinking about Rogers nursing a broken jaw though.

“What about kissing? Can I go around kissing people?”

“What?” Tony turned around and found James much closer than he’d been before, just an arm’s length away.

“Can I kiss you? You look stunning and I would love to kiss you,” James didn’t look half bad either, usually he had that grunge look going on but he had his hair pulled up in a bun with tiny braids running through it and he was wearing a deep red button down that fit nice and snug.

“How forward of you Mr. Barnes, we haven’t even had a date yet,” Tony teased even as he stepped further into James’ space.

“That’s not true at all doll, if breakfast wasn’t a date then what would you call it?” He was charming, Tony would give him that. He pulled James down and pressed their noses together.

They stayed like that until Tony got impatient, “Well, are you gonna kiss me?”

“I’m still waiting for you to say yes,” They were so close now that Tony could almost feel James’ lips against his own.

“Yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, not sure how I ended up writing this tonight instead of anything else I should be working on. I have reached some next level procrastination, where I find other things to write instead of working on the fic that I'm writing instead of finishing an entirely different fic. That's like 2x procrastination...
> 
> And on top of all that I am ignoring my laundry.


End file.
